Memoirs of an American Lady: with Sketches of Manners and Scenery in America, as They Existed Previous to the Revolution (complete in 2 volumes)
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808. First edition. Marbled paper over boards with leather spines and fore corners. Duodecimos. xii, 322 (2 pp ads) and viii, 344 pages. Attractive 19th century bindings show slight rubs to extremities, a few scuffs to boards. A lovely, sturdy set. Near fine overall.
Anne MacVicar's father was an officer in the British army during the French and Indian War. As a young child she and her mother came to America to be near her father. Anne spent several formative years in the household of Margarita Schuyler of Albany, New York before returning to Scotland with her family a few years after the war ended.
Madame Schuyler is the "American Lady" of the title, and this delightful work paints a charming picture of what is was like to grow up in her household in the middle of the 18th century. She was said to be arbiter of elegance and morals in Albany, and she frequently hosted travelers, British soldiers, Native Americans, and family members.
This is a nicely bound set of this important source on colonial New York and American society in general prior to the American Revolution.
Ref. HOWES G303; SABIN 28296.
Item #1208
Price: $750